Midtown Lunch

Got an email from Lunch’er “Elizabeth” on Tuesday telling me about a brand new pizza place called Previti that opened Monday on 41st btw. Park+Lex.

“Hi there, avid follower of the blog. Have a new place for you to check out. It’s called Previti, just opened on 41st and Lex. Get the artichoke slice — delicious!”

Now, when you say “artichoke slice”, are you talking slice of pizza with artichokes on top? Or are you talking a deliciously gross, spinach and “artichoke” dip topped slice- ala Artichoke in the East Village? Turns out it’s a little from column A, and a little from column B.

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Remember when 99 Cent Fresh Pizza operated in Midtown with a monopolistic iron fist?  Their original location, behind the Port Authority on 9th Ave. and 41st, has always been well known for its constant line, and fast service.  A slice of pizza for 99 cents is not going to be the best tasting slice you’ve ever had, but there are always customers- insuring a fresh out of the oven slice every single time.  It may not be a taste revelation, but it certainly revolutionized this fat guy’s view of a slice as a viable snack (i.e. if it costs $1, you can consider it a snack.)

Naturally they expanded to 43rd btw. Lex+3rd a couple of years ago, and quite possibly put Prince Deli out of business (it became a Five Guys Burgers and Fries today, actually.)   So it’s no surprise that competition was going to eventually take aim.  2 Bros Pizza popped up behind Port Authority back in April, with what I think is a superior slice- and there is no doubt it has hurt business. So I’m guessing the owners must be equally scared about the nameless 99 Cent Pizza place which opened last month on Lexington btw. 45+46th (right around the corner from the second location of 99 Cent Fresh Pizza.)  2 Bros is a completely different product, making a side by side comparison pretty easy (Slice agrees with me about 2 Bros. being better), but this new spot on Lexington is run by a former employee of the 99 Cent Pizza place on 43rd.  So naturally I was expecting both places to taste exactly the same.

Not so says this commenter, declaring the new place on Lexington the better slice.  Clearly I needed to check this out for myself.

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You would think keeping kosher would eliminate the desire for pepperoni pizza (it’s pork, plus you’ve got the whole milk and meat thing), but apparently those who follow the kosher laws still want to feel like they’re breaking the rules without actually doing it.  Solution?  Draw rings of “pepperoni” using red sauce.  Genius!  Does anybody know if this is a widespread phenomenon, or just a single inspired act of brilliant subterfuge?  Who cares that it will taste like a regular cheese slice with extra sauce.  It’s still amazing! Want to try this faux pepperoni pizza?  It’s at Aroma, a new generic Kosher deli on 36th btw. 5+6th.

My go to spot for pizza in Koreatown is the Little Italy Pizza on 33rd btw. Mad+5th, but Ultraclay has got another option.  He hit up Pizza Rustico 2 recently (on 35th btw. 5+6th) and stands behind their buffalo chicken pizza. “The bleu cheese is a thinner dressing that I’d like, but is just strong enough to balance out the tang and spice of the buffalo sauce.” Not as good as the slices he remembers fondly from college in Massachusetts (where dipping pizza in blue cheese dressing is considered de rigueur) but close enough.

Pizza Rustico 2, 25 W 35th St (btw. 5+6th), 212-736-1114

So I finally got a chance to swing by Bombay Eats yesterday, the Indian restaurant on 52nd btw. 8+9th that serves New York style pizza with toppings like chicken tikka and saag paneer.  The first time I visited, they weren’t selling the Indian pizza by the slice so I had to ask them to take a piece of cheese pizza and top it with saag paneer from their buffet (which is $10.95 all you can eat at lunchtime, but doesn’t include pizza.)  Of course after Midtown Lunch’ers descended on the restaurant in full force, they decided to finally offer the Indian pizza by the slice.

I stopped by yesterday to check it out.

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99 Cent Fresh Pizza seems to be taking it from all sides these days.  First, 2 Bros Pizza opens one block away from their “flagship” location behind Port Authority, and now this.  It seems as if another 99 Cent Pizza place is opening on Lexington btw. 45+46th. (just two blocks away from the 99 Cent Fresh Pizza on 43rd.)  But here’s the kicker, apparently the owner of the new spot is a disgruntled former employee of 99CFP.  And to add insult to injury, he’s never opened a pizza place before- so after securing the lease, when back to the owners of 99CFP for help.  (Are you following all this?)  Part of me thinks that we can always use more $1 pizza in Midtown, but tell that to the now shuttered Prince Deli (which very well could have been put out of business by the arrival of 99 Cent Fresh Pizza on43rd.)  At least 2 Bros Pizza had something to offer (aka better pizza) when they opened one block away from the Port Authority 99CFP.  If this new location turns out to be a bad 99CFP ripoff- it might just end up going the way of the Prince.

Lunch’er Adam used the ML Forums to organize a meetup at Bombay Eats yesterday so lunchers could sample the various Indian pizzas being offered by Bombay Eats (on 52nd btw. 8+9th Ave.) See, despite my pleading they don’t offer their Indian food topped pies by the slice, only as an entire pizza. They’ll jury-rig a slice of saag pizza if you ask nicely, but if you want to try the real deal you have to order a whole fresh pie. Not a problem if you can get 8 lunchers together for lunch… which is exactly what happened yesterday. Lunch’er “Adam Prato” sent in this report:

Lamb Keema Pie. Photo courtesy of Jessica@Food Mayhem

We actually had a great turnout. At the start, 5 of us midtownlunchers (jessica@foodmayhem, wellerfan, stevenp, scottyelich, and I) showed up for the Indian Pizza outing. After some deliberation, we decided to order 2 18″ pies; stevenp had heard that the 14″ was too doughy, which was exactly my concern since the difference between most “medium” and “large” pies is how thin they stretch the same amount of dough. We went with the Lamb Keema and the Saag paneer. Shortly after ordering, 3 of my coworkers (all of Indian descent) had unexpectedly stumbled in after a meeting since I told them all about the “indian pizza” phenomenon. Though they were there for the buffet, we coerced them into the indian pizza. With the magic number of 8 people, we were able to order a 3rd pie! So we went with the Chicken Tikka.

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I’ve walked by Bombay Eats, the just out of bounds Indian restaurant on 52nd btw. 8+9th, a million times… but had only noticed this sign for the first time last week.  Indian pizza!?!  And not some strange Indian creation with some similarities to real pizza. This is real New York City pizza, with Indian toppings.  Tandoori chicken, minced lamb, chicken tikka, saag paneer (!?!)

I mean, how could I not right?

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If you are a big fan of the pizza at Cer té (yes,apparently it’s Cer té not Certe… who knew?) on 55th btw. 5+6th than you will be very excited to hear this news.  The owners of Cer té have taken over the former Quizno’s on 56th Street (btw. Park+Lex) and will be turning it into the city’s first “green” pizzeria.  What does that mean? The building will be LEED-certified, food will be delivered by foot or via hybrid truck, all supplies will be purchased locally, and the pizza boxes, utensils and paper goods will be made from recyclable materials.

But what about the food???

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Yesterday our Downtown Lunch correspondent Daniel Krieger spotted a Vinny Vincenz Pizza Truck parked near the South Street Seaport.  Apparently they’re testing out the spot for a month to see if they can make it work.  Daniel will have a full report tomorrow in his weekly Downtown Lunch column… but in the meantime if Midtown Lunchers are looking to check it out, another Vinny Vincenz truck was spotted today on 40th btw. B’way+6th.  (They’re everywhere!!!)  Not sure what the deal is, or whether or not that spot is permanent.  Sadly Mr. Vincenz is not on the twitter yet.

According to Slice overlord Adam Kuban it’s not his favorite pizza from a truck, but it’s good  it’s “worth going to” and “about as good as you’re going to get” from a truck (which in general is not his favorite type of pizza.)  Check out Slice’s complete coverage of Vinny Vincenz here.